​Constable Asks Fiscal Court For Right To Use Emergency Equipment

District 2 Constable Tim Skees speaks at Monday night's fiscal court meeting.

Darren Doyle, story and photo
District 2 Constable Tim Skees addressed the fiscal court tonight to request the right to run police lights and use the county police radio frequency.
 
Skees noted that he does not get paid for his services, but he wasn’t asking for funding or any payment of any kind. He was simply asking for the right to use emergency equipment, something that Edmonson County Fiscal Court has not allowed constables to use in the past.
 
Skees is a volunteer firefighter on three different local departments and is also a member of the rescue squad. He said he uses a car purchased with his own money, but he can’t utilize it fully because it doesn’t have lights.
 
He also noted that because he’s not able to use police radio, he can’t access NCIC, (The National Crime Information Center) which is a computerized database of documented criminal justice information available to law enforcement agencies nationwide. “It’s the same as telling me to arrest someone without handcuffs,” he said. “Just let me have the tools I need for my job.”
 
Emergency Management Director Pat Prunty said that his department is the one that grants radio access to emergency personnel, but that access is granted with advisement from the sheriff.
 
Sheriff Shane Doyle said that Constable Skees does a great job of helping city and county law enforcement and that he’s earned respect from local officers.
 
Assistant County Attorney Leah Knee said that Skees has made a legitimate request but that a resolution would have to be written to allow him to use the emergency equipment that he requested, which would have to be voted on by magistrates.
 
Judge Wil Cannon said the vote would be on the February 8th 2016 agenda at the next fiscal court meeting. 

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